Urban Intervention challenged designers to conceive a fresh vision of environmental, social and economic opportunities on and beyond a nine-acre site at the heart of Seattle Center. 107 multidisciplinary teams from 24 countries entered designs. Each proposal harnessed Seattle’s history of innovation and civic engagement to inspire the next generation of great public spaces. Now, the three remaining finalists will present their ideas in a free, public lecture this Friday, May 11.
Continue after the break to learn more about the lecture and the top three proposals.
In 1962, the Seattle World’s Fair reached into the future to imagine a region of innovation. It offered a vision of progress led by the limitless possibilities of science and technology. The Fair had a profound impact on Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, helping shape the focus on invention and opportunity that moved the region onto the world stage. The Fair’s legacy was a 74-acre cultural campus and urban park, Seattle Center, which continues to serve the region 50 years later. Similarly, the work of the finalist teams has been identified by the jury for their unique and innovative visions. The three finalists are:
ABF (France) for their design, In-Closure. The design envisions an interactive wall around a forested landscape that is both flexible and dynamic, embracing social life in the city at multiple scales.
KoningEizenberg Architecture + ARUP (United States) for their design, Park. The design organizes the disparate elements of the Seattle Center site and program into a sustainable and coherent landscape. It offers a mastery of the immediate and physical and programmatic challenges facing Seattle Center.
PRAUD (United States) for their design, Seattle Jelly Bean. The design is highly imaginative, and suggests a new kind of icon for the 21st century, an atmospheric and interactive cloud that is tethered both literally and figuratively to the site below.
The finalists will present on May 11 at 6:30PM at the Intiman Playhouse in Seattle, Washington. The lecture is open and free to the public. Please reserve your tickets here.